The Beep Test!
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right - I did a beep test the other & scored completed 12 cycles + 1.<br />
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Now, looking around the internets it appears that this time in some circles is phenomenal (pretty much so smashes every benchmark on wikipedia for example)! But then on the Conrad thread a link to the RFU, it seems like this is perhaps not so great.<br />
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What do other ferners get? And what realistically are good benchmarks? I ran my fastest ever 10k the other day in 53 mins so happy with that, building up to a half mara next Feb, where I'm gunning for under 2 hours.<br />
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Any idea what sort of beep test I should bedoing to get this? -
Didn''t Conrad get 17 something?? I remember it being farking impressive!! The Beep Test is better for measuring speed/endurance over shorter distances as I understand it. That's why its popular for rugby etc. I remember doing it a few times in college and most of us got high 13s and 14s. I think there are a couple of variations of the test though.<br />
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To hit that target I'd imagine you'd want to mix up shorter speed runs with longer endurance runs. You want to keep bringing down your time per km on the longer runs. Once you are knocking of 17-18km within that sort of pace you should be all good to crack the 2 hours! -
Yeah I remember doing it in secondary school at about 16 years of age and scoring a 15 something. Back then I was fit as hell. Same year I ran 6km road race in 19min30 at NZ Schoolboys champs for 12th.<br />
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Would hate to do it now!<br />
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I thought there was a 'rumour' years ago that Graeme Bachop finished it. What does it go up to? 20? -
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that one they were doing was different to what I did - they seemed to get a break at certain points. The one I did was continuous.
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Wasn't that just the editing? It would have been non-stop once they started, you've just got more time at the lower levels.
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It looked edited given there were less players at each one too...although I expect there are a number of variations on the test
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The video is the yo-yo test which is a different variation to the beep test but seen as the new big thing in reps
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hated the beep test, was useless. Was at a Valley training years ago and Sean 'Sparrow' Muir (now a policeman in Counties), finished it.
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Beep protocol gone nowadays replaced by the yoyo intermittent protocol for the rugby guys. I believe it is due to the fact that rugby has intermittent breaks the test needs to replicate that as with an average rugby players mass some inertia assists bigger guys to keep going longer than if they are starting again from rest stops. Rushie was still hitting 19.5 at 40 and he had a dodgy ticker by memory. Conrad's 17 would be a very close approximation to a beep test 19.<br />
On your training. Make sure to run the longer run each week at a slower pace than race pace. I go even 2 mins slower per km at times. Then two harder workouts through the week at or faster than race pace. Best workouts for half/10 km training are 3(for the 1/2)2(for the 10)X4km at goal pace -10 seconds per km with 5 min jogging rest. If you can nail that you should be good to go in a race. This is known as tempo training. Then the fast intervals done on the track are great for getting your running technique strong and also for shredding any fat you are carrying. These can be any distance from 400-1600 meters at race pace - 20 seconds per km. Rest About half the time you took to run the interval. i.e ran 8r00 in 3 mins 90 second rest. Biggest issue for people who don't improve is that they run the same way each session. So mix it up distance pace wise and you can really sharpen up. -
Conrads score would be the other way around. A 12-13 on the beep test is about a 17-18 on the yoyo test. For the yoyo test you skip the lower levels really quickly which means you have more energy for the faster levels.
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[quote name='reddog' timestamp='1353555154' post='327024']<br />
Beep protocol gone nowadays replaced by the yoyo intermittent protocol for the rugby guys. I believe it is due to the fact that rugby has intermittent breaks the test needs to replicate that as with an average rugby players mass some inertia assists bigger guys to keep going longer than if they are starting again from rest stops. Rushie was still hitting 19.5 at 40 and he had a dodgy ticker by memory. Conrad's 17 would be a very close approximation to a beep test 19.<br />
On your training. Make sure to run the longer run each week at a slower pace than race pace. I go even 2 mins slower per km at times. Then two harder workouts through the week at or faster than race pace. Best workouts for half/10 km training are 3(for the 1/2)2(for the 10)X4km at goal pace -10 seconds per km with 5 min jogging rest. If you can nail that you should be good to go in a race. This is known as tempo training. Then the fast intervals done on the track are great for getting your running technique strong and also for shredding any fat you are carrying. These can be any distance from 400-1600 meters at race pace - 20 seconds per km. Rest About half the time you took to run the interval. i.e ran 8r00 in 3 mins 90 second rest. Biggest issue for people who don't improve is that they run the same way each session. So mix it up distance pace wise and you can really sharpen up.<br />
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Thanks for the tips, really useful stuff. I have been doing a 6.5k each week as well as 2 other workouts - generally circuit type stuff then doing the long one each weekend. Had been going up 8,9.. to 13. Was supposed to do 14 this week, but I just got an entry to the Unicef 10k on Sunday so will probably just do another 6.5k tomorrow morning - will try to do it at pace.<br />
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Next week will be 15k.. then slow down for December silly season (will try to run 20k p/week) then full on again in Jan. Aim to peak out the training runs about 18 or 19k at the end of Jan, before working on pace in the leadup (race on 24th Jan).<br />
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any other tips, totally appreciated! -
[quote name='MajorRage' timestamp='1353572670' post='327088']<br />
Thanks for the tips, really useful stuff. I have been doing a 6.5k each week as well as 2 other workouts - generally circuit type stuff then doing the long one each weekend. Had been going up 8,9.. to 13. Was supposed to do 14 this week, but I just got an entry to the Unicef 10k on Sunday so will probably just do another 6.5k tomorrow morning - will try to do it at pace.<br />
<br />
Next week will be 15k.. then slow down for December silly season (will try to run 20k p/week) then full on again in Jan. Aim to peak out the training runs about 18 or 19k at the end of Jan, before working on pace in the leadup (race on 24th Jan).<br />
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any other tips, totally appreciated!<br />
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Practise eating and drinking on your runs, you don't want the race to be the first time you try and gulp water or half a banana down.<br />
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There are loads of different strategies for this but a good rule of thumb is "little often" -
I think there are different score ratings or something, kind of like the imperial vs the metric system maybe cos both Ian Jones and Gavin Hastings brought it up in their books. Kamos score was miles ahead of Big Gavs but this was in the days when Scotland could compete a bit better with the ABs and I refuse to believe he was that much ( if any ) fitter than the best fullback in the world at that time.
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[quote name='mooshld' timestamp='1355232052' post='332153']<br />
Practise eating and drinking on your runs, you don't want the race to be the first time you try and gulp water or half a banana down.<br />
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There are loads of different strategies for this but a good rule of thumb is "little often"<br />
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Absolutely - I get abdominal cramps after running 10km so have to hydrate like a mofo straight afterwards. I hate carrying stuff with me when I run except for the phone for tracking and house key if no-one else is at home.
